Michigan Municipal League's CEO Dan Gilmartin on Financial Challenges

Below you will find a nice summary of comments from Dan Gilmartin, the CEO for the Michigan Municipal League (MML). Dan's got a great perspective on the current financial troubles facing communities all across Michigan and how it relates to state government.  This is must reading for any Michigan resident concerned about the future of our state and for citizens seeking government reform.  The comments below are quoted from MML:

November 23, 2010 15:00 by Matt Bach

Michigan Municipal League CEO Dan Gilmartin was the focus of a recent article on the financial challenges facing Michigan cities. The article in the Michigan Report by Gongwer News Services was posted online Nov. 22, 2010 and is only available to Gongwer subscribers. If you’re a Gongwer subscriber go here to view the story. But if you’re not a Gongwer subscriber let me summarize what it says.

The news angle for the piece was about the City of Hamtramck looking to seek bankruptcy protection and Gilmartin explained that many Michigan communities are struggling financially and looking at a variety of options. He said other cities and villages throughout the state have cut emergency services, ended services and closed parks as a way to keep their budgets balanced. "There's a number of communities around state that are in difficult straits," Gilmartin explained.

Gilmartin then explained how revenue sharing to Michigan communities has been continually cut by the state further adding to the financial difficulties. "The state has basically been balancing its budget for the last decade on the backs of locals," Gilmartin said. "That exacerbated the problem from the economy."
The term “revenue sharing” is a misnomer because the funds were intended to replace taxing authority that was taken from local governments. "It's not really a sharing situation; it's a partnership," Gilmartin told Gongwer. "That was a partnership that worked for decades, but when the state ran into its own problems, it hijacked the funds that came to locals."

Also adding to the financial challenges are current state laws in place that make it difficult for communities to consolidate services and save money. "If the state would allow for local units to do more in terms of consolidating services without holdups, we would be better off," he said.

Gilmartin also talked about the new leadership coming to Lansing and how the League and Michigan communities are “cautiously optimistic that we’ve got a group that’s going to listen to us in January.” He hopes the changes will get broad support because the fiscal problems are hitting communities of all shapes and sizes. “It’s not just core cities; it’s extending to the suburbs,” Gilmartin said. “They are not able to provide the levels of services that quite frankly will make us competitive.”

Matt Bach is director of communications for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at mbach@mml.org or (734) 669-6317.

Mark's "two cents:"

First cent: Rogers City is not near to bankruptcy, but we have made cuts to services.  We have lost one police officer position and two public works positions through retirees not replaced.  We have reduced operational budgets.  We are subsidizing our Marina from the general fund.  The City Council has taken proactive steps to help our community become more efficient.  Together with other local partners, Rogers City has reformed fire and ambulence services, establishing  government "Authorities."  We have also invested in the most needed infrastructure. We are operating on a very thin margin.  If there were to be new major revenue reductions (revenue sharing cuts or loss of property tax revenue), then we will have no choice but to cut the city's work force further.  From what Gilmartin says, Rogers City is better off than many other cities.

Second cent: State government has an opportunity to restructure and reform.  This must be done for the long term health of local and state government.  We had a saying in the military: "it is above my pay grade."  At this time, none of us have the luxury of passing the buck.  Each person should demand the new state legislature and governor accomplish needed reforms within a year.  Certainty is the "mother's milk" of economic growth and development.  Swiftly done reforms will estalish certainty for the market place.  We need a simple, rational, and fair method to raise revenue and allocate expenses for state and local government.  Eliminate the current state revenue sharing formula, the Headlee Amendment, and Proposal A.  These forula were based on the asumption of ever increasing sales and property value.  We know those assumptions are no longer valid.  Give each community a fixed value for every dollar of sales tax raised in that jurisdiction.  For purpose of illustration only: if sales tax is six cents per dollar, then the state gets two cents, schools get two cents, a city would get one cent, the county a half a cent, and village or township a half cent.  Real property tax would be set by local control and subject to the local voters.  Locals know what they would be able to raise and what they need to spend.        

Michigan Municipal League (MML) Annual Convention

This is a preliminary report about the MML convention, September 21-24, 2010 in Dearborn, Michigan.  Deb Greene, Beach Hall, Gary Nowak, and I attend the session which lasted from Tuesday evening to Friday morning. It was one of the best conventions I have ever attended, offering a wide variety of information about many important subjects.

I want to report a few positive items which came directly from this event:

• Rogers City may participate in a two MML sponsored projects: an economic development opportunity and an expansion of social media as a means to reach out to the community. 
• Carol Shafto, Mayor of Alpena, is now MML President.  Conratulations Mayor Shafto!
• Grand Haven won the “Race for the Cup” with a very low cost project to improve City Goals. I intend to present City Council with an opportunity to adopt the Grand Haven approach as a means to focus Rogers City's efforts in the most productive direction possible.

There is much more to report, but I’ll leave it for a “regular” work day.

Michigan Municipal League (MML) Annual Convention

Dear Gentle Readers,

I will be attending the MML annual convention, September 21-24, 2010.  The annual MML convention is a great way for municipal managers and elected officials to learn more about effective government and trends/changes coming our way.  For more information about the League, please go to the website: http://www.mml.org/

While I am at the convention, I will not be making blog entries; however, I will report back to you after I reurn about the things I learned at the MML convention.  The theme for this year's convention is "Not Your Typical Convention."  So I expect the unexpected.  One think I have learned is that local government is a very dynamic situation!  MML's goal remains constant: "Better Communities.  Better Michigan."

Update on Activities at City Hall

While the bears may be hibernating, Rogers City is not.  There is so much going on!  Beyond normal day-to-day operations, here is a short list of special projects and activities:

• Economic Opportunity -- 7 pm, February 16, 2010 at the Senior Center 
• Wolverine Landfill Public Hearing -- 6:30 pm, January 27, 2010 at the High School
• Wayfinding
• Street Lights
• Facades
• Safe Routes to School
• US Department of Agriculture -- Rural Development Water and Sewer Improvements (huge!!!)
• Public Works Road and Trail Maintenance
• Planning road and sidewalk improvements for 2010
• Planning the 2010 budget
• Security Grant for the Marina
• Huron Pines Collaborative Project for Lake Huron Restoration
• Grant for Birmingham Symphony Concert
• Main Street Associate/Community Development Authority (CDA) programs
• Planning for Michigan Municipal League (MML) Regional meeting in Rogers City in June 2010
• Zoning Ordinance Rewrite
• Virtual Incubator Collaboration with Alpena
• Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) efforts with Presque Isle County
• NEMCOG Collaborative efforts
• Northeast Michigan Prosperity Alliance 
• MML Green Challenge
• Channel 99 improvements

You may be wondering what is all this stuff and why we are doing it.... The "why" answer is simple.  We don't want to miss an opportunity to make Rogers City better.  If you are interested in or want to learn more about any of these projects, please contact me. 

Every citizen can be involved and do his or her part to help.

Recognition of Blogging

This blog was reported in the The Michigan Municipal League's magazine The Review. The September/October 2009 Edition of The Review, page 28 and 29, contains an article about blogging as a tool of local government, including my comments about my blogging experience. The article includes comments from bloggers in Auburn Hills, Coopersville, East Lansing, Jonesville, Quincy, Roscommon, and Rogers City. All agree that blogging is an excellent tool to communicate about local government, promote a community, and encourage a civil dialogue--all very much needed in our society today. It is also fun!

I hope those of you who read this blog, enjoy it and find it useful. Drop me a line anytime with your comments, suggestions, etc.

"Bridging Challenges with Positive Solutions"

I attended the Michigan Local Government Management Association (MLGMA) Summer Workshop July 28-31, 2009 in Sault Ste. Marie. I was also part of the Summer Workshop Planning Committee that put this workshop together (with a lot of help from the Michigan Municipal League (MML)). As always, MLGMA and MML do a great job pulling together the resources needed to help move Michigan forward at the local government level.

It was a valuable experience, and I will be sharing more information from the workshop over the days ahead. Today, I want to share two related pieces of information: our state's financial situation and Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG). These two pieces are related because the State of Michigan is in financial distress but energy efficiency may possibly help "bridge the challenge with positive solutions."

Every speaker at the workshop confirmed the financial distress at the State government level. The problem is a central focus for our elected officials in Lansing. I think they really want to solve the problem, but they have different views. Even with big cuts in spending, the State of Michigan has a large shortfall projected for this year and an even larger shortfall for next year. Unfortunately, this has a trickle down effect on every city and village in Michigan. We were told to expect a 10-20% reduction in "state revenue sharing." For Rogers City this could mean a loss of between $25,000 to $50,000 of revenue for this fiscal year, and more next year. If this happens, it will be very difficult for us to find cuts in expenses to off set this revenue cut. City staff will begin thinking about this problem at staff meeting on Wednesday.

One possible solution is to save money through energy efficiency and conservation. There may be grants available to help us save operational costs to heat and light the city. The grants are "no match," which means we could actually afford to do them. Because the City has a low fund balance now, we can not afford to do the traditional "dollar-for-dollar" grants. However, we may be able to do EECBGs if they, in fact, do not require a local "match." The application forms for these EECBGs have not been released yet, so we do not know for sure what they will require. However, EECBGs might help us save enough to off set some of the state cuts in revenue sharing.

Also, these EECBGs potentially could be used as examples of energy efficiency and conservation that could be used by commercial businesses and residential owners to save energy. The idea is to create an energy efficiency strategy that can be expanded to include the entire community. If you are interested in helping Rogers City become a "Green Community," please let me know.

Hot Topic

The Michigan Municipal League (MML) is a great partner to local cities and villages, like Rogers City. MML staff work smart and long to find ways to build: "Better Communities. Better Michigan." Recently, MML staff challenged their Facebook Fans and MML members to tell MML what is the hot topic. Here is their report:

We took your community pulse & the results are in! We challenged our Facebook Fans and Group Members to tell us what would make life in their community better with the promise to report back on the most talked about issue. The results are in and we have reached a consensus for our Facebook challenge! Congratulations and thanks to each of you who contributed to the discussion, and to those who took the time to read the posts.

The winning issue is: Vibrant Downtowns. Vibrant downtowns summarizes your demand for culturally diverse, walkable downtowns with restaurants, stores, and housing options in close proximity to where you live, learn, work and play.

Those who participated in the discussion were entered into a drawing for a $30 gas card—congratulations to Lauren Leeds—you are the winner!

Developing ways to create and encourage vibrant downtowns is a major purpose and passion behind our work at the League, and it's a topic I am excited to report back to you on in the next few weeks.

Make it a great day! -Andrea Messinger

Thanks Andrea and all the staff at MML for helping to make Michigan Better, and our community too. We believe in the importance of a vibrant downtown in Rogers City! If you want to help, or become a Facebook fan of Rogers City--please let me know.

Images from 2009 Capital Conference

Capitol Conference, Lansing

Gary Nowak, Darrin Darga, and I attend the Michigan Municipal League (MML) Capitol Conference on March 3 and 4, 2009. This conference is one way your elected and appointed officials work for the City of Rogers City to influence the laws and policies of the State of Michigan and learn best practices for government. In addition to conferences, your elected officials regularly communicate with officials in both Lansing and Washington D.C. via phone, email, and snail mail. While it is a long trip to Lansing, sometimes it is important to talk face to face. While Gary, Darrin, and I were in Lansing we meet with State Senator Jason Allen, Representative Kevin Elsenhiemer, and Representative Andy Neumann. We talked with all them about the importance of preserving Michigan State University (MSU) Extension funding in Presque Isle County, along with other local issue.



We also attened public forums and educational sessions with various other leaders as shown below:



"Four vs. One" was a panel discussion with Reps. Melton and Proos and Sens. Whitmer and Richardville, moderated by Media Personality Tim Scubick. We learned where each legislator stood on a several issues, and watched their interaction. Tim’s questions were "straightforward" and directed at topics like cable and tax reform legislation. The discussion often involved “process” and “communication.” They all stated that hearing from local officials is a critical factor when considering specific legislation and overall public policy.
(Note: this paragraph was adapted from Andrea Messinger, MML Legislative & Communications Coordinator. Thanks Andrea.)


"Vibrant Communities in the 21st Century" was a session featuring three cities in Michigan that seek to be more vibrant. They are seeking to be places where people want to "live, work, and play." Boyne City presented their “Creating Entrepreneurial Communities” program. The Rogers City also participates in this program; however, Boyne has taken the program further than perhaps any other community in Michigan. Their goal was to keep the businesses they have and to create an environment conducive to new small business start-ups. Statistics show that 60-80 percent of employees in the U.S. work for a small business. Boyne City realized that it was more effective to foster entrepreneurialism than to try and hook that “one big” business. They meet with over 100 business owners and asking them what their needs were. They had never been asked this before. The City did an inventory of the business community, and brought together talent from different groups to form a business resource center for entrepreneurs, a sort of “one stop resource.” They are fostering, and nurturing small business in Boyne City.


Like Rogers City, Owosso was interested in creating a vibrant communities for the 21st century. This city of about 15,000 admitted they had a problem, went out on a limb, and reallocated resources and restructured government. They garnered over 5 million in grants, including the Vibrant Small cities Initiative (VSCI) of which Rogers City is a part. They have been working to put together private money (the goal is $2 in private dollars for every $1 of public money). Like Rogers City, they gathered grant funds first, then developed their plan to use the funds. This process takes a long time. Their plan is to focus on historic preservation, arts and culture, a walkable community, and putting together partnerships. They are rebuilding their burned-down theatre, expanding their art center, building trails throughout the city, and are putting in a new streetscape. Phase two of the plan will be to focus on developing downtown housing.


The third municipal example in this presentation was the city of Grand Rapids. They created a new master plan based on the tenets of smart growth. In addition, they rewrote their zoning ordinance, and consequently, were able to create the really great neighborhoods that their residents desired. Rogers City is also working on a new Zoning Ordinance. Grand Rapids' primary concerns was for walkable and accessible neighborhoods, distinctive and attractive developments, and to preserve farmland, open space, natural beauty, and critical environmental areas. They sought resident input, and then followed it. They changed 40 percent of the land in the city from industrial to mixed use. They were amazed by the changes they could make in appearances by making changes to the zoning ordinance. Their residents wanted great neighborhoods, and the city created them by instituting mixed density and a variety of housing styles. They also cherish green infrastructure, which is the core of a good quality of life. In addition to smart growth, the city is focused on Green Grand Rapids and Crime Prevention by Environmental Design.
(Note: this section was adapted from Kim Cekola, MML Research Associate/Publications Editor)


"Transportation and Infrastructure–The View from Capitol Hill:" Officials discussed what local governments must do in order to receive federal funding for transportation projects, as well as efforts that are underway to change our national transportation policy. Foremost on everyone’s minds was the federal stimulus package that was recently passed. Unfortunately, it was confirmed that none of the stimulus funding for roads will be available for small cities like Rogers City due to federal rules in the Stimulus bill. Apparently, only roads that are "federal aide eligible" will receive this road funding. Except for US-23, BR-23, and M-68, none of our major or local streets in Rogers City are "federal aide eligible." This news is a big disappointment; however, Rogers City may get some funding for road repair through our water and sewer projects, which apparently are eligible for funding via the US Department of Agriculture-Rural Development (USDA-RD).



It was reported that Department of Transportation (DOT) officials are claiming that transportation projects are too complicated for local governments to handle and that all money and decision making should therefore flow through the DOT. Apparently, this thinking prevailed on the Congress during the passage of the Federal Stimulus bill. The National League of Cities (NLC) is attempting to change this mindset, but local officials must make their voices heard, if we ever hope to obtain federal dollars for local road repair.


Their was a lot of discussionm about reforming national transportation legislation so that transportation policy reflects the needs of today and not the needs that existed in the 1950s and 1960s when most of the existing policy was crafted. The focus is not just on short-term fixes, but on long-term development that will ensure energy security, economic growth, affordability, and efficient transportation choices for all. One subject discussed was the "gas tax" which is falling short of meeting the needs of the highway system. Also, projects to develop high-speed, inter-city rail systems connecting 50 metropolitan areas may soon be underway. It is anticipated these rail projects will be support by the Obama administration because $8 billion was added to the federal stimulus package for high-speed rail development. Michigan may obtain some of this funding.


Speakers throughout the transportation session repeated how important it is for local officials to stay involved, despite the disappointment of not getting funding for local roads. Local officials must emphasize that local governments can complete transportation projects more quickly and better than state DOTs. They know the needs of their residents and are therefore the best ones to coordinate transportation and land use processes. Local governments will then be able to obtain the funding they need to develop sustainable, affordable transportation that meet needs of the 21st century. (Note: adapted from Tom Wolff, MML, Claims Manager, Risk Management Services)


"Renew Your Energy Expertise:" A new Executive Order issued by the governor solidified our state’s commitment to renewable energy. The order went into effect the first of January, and creates a Bureau of Energy within the Department of Labor and Economic Growth. The governor’s goal is to decrease our state’s dependency on fossil fuels by 45 percent by the year 2020. In addition, the aim is to create jobs in the renewable energy field through these four components: 1) Advanced Energy Storage2) Wind3) Solar4) Energy Efficiency.
In the case of wind and solar, the state wants to both deploy the technology and capture the value chain. Michigan has many skilled manufacturing workers, so transferring these skills to manufacturing renewable energy products is a good way for our state to diversify its workforce.
In addition to the Bureau of Energy, the state has created a Wind Energy Zone Resource Board. This board has been charged with identifying the location of wind zones and studying wind conversion methodologies. Its focus will be on the viability of large wind farms, not stand alone wind turbines. The key to our state’s success is for local government and state government to do this together. Lots of grant money is coming down the pike—the money will originate with the federal government who will give it to the states who will then disperse it to locals. It will not go towards the Bureau of Energy’s general fund, but directly to municipalities to develop their own renewable energy programs. Money will be available under the new economic stimulus package, and for green issues specifically it will come through Energy Efficiency Community Block Grants. To ensure the success of municipalities in receiving and keeping the stimulus, the Bureau of Energy and the Michigan Municipal League have teamed up for what we call “The Green Challenge.” Visit http://www.mml.org/ for more information. after this session, Council member Darga stated that he would like to see Rogers city "as the premier sustainable city in Northeast Michigan."(Note: adapted from Kim Cekola, MML, Research Associate/Publications Editor)


"The Big Picture, State & Federal Affairs Update" a panel of MML lobbyists shared their insight. The lobbying team introduced MML's new Prosperity Agenda. After pinpointing what Michigan can learn from prosperous states (hint: it's all about sense of place), the Prosperity Agenda details "Prosperity Policies" and "Policy Actions" to create a better future for our state. Perhaps the most exciting thing about the Agenda is that it's not just a wish list, but a realistic action plan that shows exactly how communities, together with the Legislature, can create the Michigan of our dreams. A large dose of legislative information, enough to fix the worst political junky, came next. The panel presented the latest details about the federal Economic Recovery Act, mandatory collective bargaining, constitutional amendment on tax reform, the state transportation budget, green building incentives, cable legislation, and more.
(Note: adapted from Andrea Messinger, MML, Legislative & Communications Coordinator)



All-in-all, the Capitol Conference was a great way for your City to participate in the process of moving our community forward. The new MML moto is "Better Communities. Better Michigan." We must all work together to make that motto real.

Michigan Municipal League

Michigan Municipal League (MML) Executive Director and CEO, Dan Gilmartin, kicked off MML’s 110th Annual Convention on October 1, 2008 with an emphasis on creating communities for the next 50 years, not the past 50 years.

It’s up to us, Gilmartin stated emphatically. With Michigan’s economic challenges and a term limited Legislature, it is paramount that we identify new and creative ways to keep our young, educated population from choosing to live in other states. And with folks today choosing a place to live first, it is imperative that that we are creating vibrant, creative communities in which they wish to live. It is important that each of our communities create their own “sense of place” that will motivate people to live, raise families and retire in Michigan.

What will it take to develop these types of communities? Gilmartin stated that across the country and the world, these places are characterized by downtowns and neighborhoods that are vibrant places where people live and work in closer proximity, where the development preference is mixed-use commercial/residential, live-work places and buildings that generally go up instead of out.

Rogers City is certainly working to position itself to become an attractive place for creative and energetic people to work, learn, and enjoy themselves. Our City has made some progress in all the areas Gilmartin mentioned; however, we have a long way to go!

Additional speakers included Daniel Pink, Daniel Granholm Mulhern, and officials from many communities throughout Michigan. There were so many great ideas presented that it was almost overwhelming; however, my confidence is high that the people of Rogers City are up to the challenge for becoming a vibrant small city.

Along with myself, City Council members Deb Greene, Gary Nowak, and Darrin Darge and participated in the conference.